California State University, Bakersfield is hosting “It Ends With Us” actor and director Justin Baldoni at the Dore Theater on Oct. 28, ultimately renewing discussion surrounding the controversial film in Bakersfield.

Baldoni was invited to speak about domestic violence alongside Jamey Heath, Wayfarer Studios CEO and “It Ends With Us” producer, as a part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The event is free for any local resident to attend.

The film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” debuted in theaters on … The book gained a lot of popularity, more than 10 million copies were sold worldwide and the ticket sales were over 100 million dollars within the first week of its release. 

“It Ends With Us” focuses on love and domestic violence by telling the story of Lily Bloom who grew up around domestic violence between her father and mother. As she grew older, she met Ryle Kincaid and found herself in a situation similar to her parents’.

The book received both praise and criticism for a multitude of reasons, but it ultimately was popular enough for Columbia Pictures Wayfarer Studios to buy the rights for filming. 

When the news came out that they were creating a film adaption, many people expressed excitement; fans were especially excited to see that Blake Lively and Baldoni were cast in the lead roles.

Now that the movie has been released, people have mixed emotions about it; viewers’ attention has been especially focused on how Lively and Hoover have been promoting it.

“It Ends With Us” is not meant for a younger audience; the franchise may be triggering for those who have had traumatic experiences regarding abuse. 

Hoover has explained that this story means a lot to her because it represents how she grew up with her mother and father. Hoover explains this in both her author’s note in “It Ends With Us” and in an interview on the TODAY Show. 

However, people are starting to think that the reason for writing the book doesn’t mean as much to her as they thought. Some claim that “It Ends With Us” romanticizes abusive relationships. 

“I don’t think it’s a very good idea to make a movie out of a book that romanticizes relationships, especially when the author uses them as a shock value for her writing rather than adding any real lesson regarding the subject,” a TikToker Kaihlinotkaylee said. 

Some commenters disagreed, even going so far as asking if they had even read the same book.

The concern

What is most concerning about the release of this movie is how Hoover and Lively are promoting it. One of the reasons why people love the book so much is because it spreads awareness and courage to those suffering from abuse and who think they can’t get out of it. So when promoting this movie, these are key concerns to mention.

The film shouldn’t be advertised as just a love story with some cute scenes and flowers because that is not what it is. It’s awareness for women suffering from abuse, and assuring survivors that they can get out of that cycle. This is not the promotion that we are getting. This is mostly being pointed at Lively. 

The infamous interviews

People have been comparing the interviews that Baldoni and Lively have done, and they have made videos using these different clips. Viewers commented on the videos across social media that the stars were promoting two different movies.

In a promo video from the official “It Ends With Us” account, Lively and Hoover promoted the movie and encouraged people to go watch it in theaters.

“‘It Ends With Us’ is in theaters now; so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it,” Lively said in the promo video. 

By telling people to go see the movie with their friends and to wear floral fashion, she is making the film seem like a cute love story rather than a drama that grapples with the reality of domestic violence and multi-generational trauma. 

In other interviews where she’s asked questions about domestic violence, she dodges the questions and chooses to ignore them. An example of this is when Lively was interviewed on Jake’s Takes channel.

“If someone understands the theme of this movie comes across you in public and they really want to talk to you, what’s the best way for them to be able to talk to you about this?” Jake asked.

“Are you just asking me for my address or my phone number or, like my location share? Are we talking logistics or are we talking emotionally?” Lively responded.

Rather than just answering the question, Lively was laughing and joking around when asked a legitimate question about domestic violence and viewers’ potential response to the film.

In comparison, the majority of Baldoni’s interviews focused on deeper messages of “It Ends With Us,” such as the violence and difficult choices that come with it.

When Baldoni made public statements about the film, he focused on giving viewers an understanding of what the movie was about and helping bring awareness to the issues discussed. 

“I want men to go to the theater and in some way see a version of yourself. I want men to stop asking the question ‘Why do women stay?’ Instead, I want people to ask the question, ‘Why do men harm?’” Baldoni said in an interview with CBS Mornings.

Baldoni does not reject that there are positive messages in the film along with themes of abuse, but he does not want those lighter moments to take away from the seriousness of the overall story.

 “Yes, this movie is about love and hope but that we don’t shy away from the issue [of abuse],” Baldoni said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

What Baldoni has to say about the movie is truly beautiful and meaningful because he addresses the issue the movie is based on and wants people to truly understand that the issue is serious.

Comparing the public response

What is interesting about these two interviews when you compare them is that it does seem that they are promoting two different movies. 

Why is it that when Blake Lively is asked a question regarding abuse and the seriousness of it she doesn’t answer? 

People are more surprised that a guy in the cast is the only one speaking out on domestic violence and the women aren’t. 

“THAT’S the promo we needed for this movie,” was written in the comment section of Baldoni’s interview videos.

Lively has been getting a ton of backlash because she keeps avoiding the topic and keeps talking about herself. Someone even commented on the video saying, 

“It’s giving me me me me, did I mention ME?” one user commented on a video from Lively’s interview.

People have even been claiming that her acting seems as if she didn’t know what she was doing. 

“I don’t think she read the book,” another user commented on the interview video.

When delivering what was meant to be very serious lines in the movie, as Lily decides to divorce her husband after she gives birth because of the domestic violence she experienced with him, Lively’s acting does not reflect that. During the scene, Lively was smiling; this neglects that the scene was supposed to be emotional and heartbreaking as the two lovers chose to end their marriage.

A lot of people uploaded their opinions online on TikTok, including:

“This could have been a powerful scene” 

“Never understood why she laughed in this scene”

“This did NOT meet my expectations”

“I just wished she wasn’t smiling this much in such a heartbreaking scene” 

Some viewers feel that they need to refilm the whole movie and do it right this time. 

Combining the issues viewers have had with the acting and the promotion, people have argued that they should have made the movie. 

I believe that this movie could have been made better, and the promotion on Lively’s part is insanely ridiculous. 

If they want this movie to win awards and be respected, they should re-film it and bring to light what the book was really about.